


wish upon whatever

by Luna_Arsenica



Category: IDOLiSH7 (Video Game)
Genre: 100 percent organic guilt free, Just dorks being dorks, M/M, first shrine visit of the year, gen?? am I legit writing something gen?, too many words nothing happens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 06:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Arsenica/pseuds/Luna_Arsenica
Summary: After many "no", Touma finally gets one "yes" from Minami.





	wish upon whatever

_ "Well, I was going to go anyway. I guess I don't mind you coming with me." _

Maybe it was ridiculous for Touma to celebrate such an answer, what was basically the text equivalent of a shrug, with the same enthusiasm he had felt in the past for an emphatic 'yes' from a crush. Maybe he was a bit self-conscious of the fact that he was as excited as a kid on christmas about a simple 'ok'.

But this being Minami, that was more than he was expecting. He thought he'd say 'no', if he replied at all - he was ready to be utterly ignored.

After all, their relationship to the date was barely that of coworkers. As much as Touma wanted to become closer to the other members of ZOOL, he was usually met with excuses or even cold reminders that they were not there to make friends. That was never the goal, and he knew that, but if his feelings on the matter had changed, was it really so outrageous to hope he wasn't the only one?

But, even if he felt especially attracted to the beautiful and mysterious Minami, their soft spoken and polite but surprisingly sharp composer, he was the most difficult one of them all. Always distant and cold, it was hard to convince him to hang out. He couldn't bribe him with sweets or superhero movies, and even if he thought he had an idea of something they could do together, Minami seemed almost allergic to bonding.

And yet, in a completely puzzling behaviour, if Touma stopped inviting him out for a while, he'd grow colder and colder to him until Touma thought of another offer to make. It was almost as if he was _ sulking _, but that didn't make any sense after rejecting him countless times, or did it?

So when Minami agreed to go together to their first shrine visit of the year, he was delighted. He pumped his fist, and yelled "Yes!!" out loud, and was overall surprised. Pleasantly surprised. It only became believable once they agreed on a meeting place, and once it was settled he couldn't stop humming.

Minami's guard was always as high as Tokyo Tower, and since he wasn't one to talk much about himself, it was really hard to understand what he was thinking or _ why _. In an attempt to decipher that smile that never reached his eyes, Touma tried to research some popular forms of fortune telling (he didn't believe in that, but if Minami was so interested in it then he probably did??), with… a bit below average results.

(He tried astrology since it was the easier after blood types -which he couldn't even try because he didn't know Minami's-, but he had to google Minami's sun sign -what the fuck even _ was _ a sun sign- and even then, Gemini didn't sound that much like him, and Saggitarius could barely be applied to Touma himself so he gave up quickly… after just about a week trying to understand something.)

When they finally met a few hours later, Touma confirmed that he wasn’t exaggerating at Minami’s reply. He looked beyond pretty, small leftover traces of snowflakes in his hair, completely disheveled by the wind, and even in his long eyelashes, like diamond dust on his angelical face, cheeks dusted pink by the cold behind his muffler, his eyes lost staring into the distance... It took Touma a second to remember Minami was there waiting for him and when he finally was close enough, he almost regretted having to call his attention, so he simply went with a soft “Hey”

“Inumaru-san. Good morning” Minami smiled, maybe a bit startled but hiding it in confidence like a small animal. He must have been deep in thought, but Touma wanted to believe (selfishly, he knew it) that he was looking forward to this too, that he was thinking about him.

It was probably because being still in the cold weather was annoying (or waiting for him was annoying, even if Touma arrived as quickly as public transportation let him), but Minami started walking in the direction of the shrine he picked almost as soon after saying that and without another word.

Touma knew it would be like that, so he had considered things to make small talk about with Minami and made a modest mental list <strike>ever since the first time they met</strike>.

"Mina, you like fortune telling and that stuff, right?" Touma started, picking one of those topics to talk about on their way to the temple. Minami made a small humming noise and nodded in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything else, so Touma continued the small talk "Do you know anything about this place's amulets?"

Minami smiled, an extremely distant gesture comparable only to the business smile of an employee, and nodded a bit more firmly "Yes, they're very high quality. That's why I've been coming to this shrine for a few years now"

"Nice. Do you come only on New Year or for other things too?"

"Usually only for the first visit of the year. I don't rely that much on prayers for other occasions" Minami's smile became more mischievous, teasing "I consult my fortune in the comfort and loneliness of my home for anything else, but do you go to a shrine for things like exams or work?"

His heart skipped in a worrying way at Minami's chuckle, much more amused than usual. Touma coughed, trying to recover a semblance of normalcy or, at the very least, pretend he was merely embarrassed to admit something shameful.

"I struggled a lot to finish high school because I was already working during my senior year, so I bought a good luck charm at the local temple for good measure, yeah" he scratched his head and looked away from Minami, but he could still feel the almost evil smile thrown his way "I mean, just for finals"

"Oh my, isn't that a terrible example for your fans. You should always prioritize school, am I wrong?" it wasn't actually a question, but Minami seemed like he could barely hold back the laughter, so Touma could take it. He didn't realise it himself when he started smiling as well.

"I _ did _ pass my exams, though!"

"Well, this shrine's charms for studies are good enough, I guess" Minami seemed to be in a pretty good mood talking about stuff like that, or at least Touma wanted to believe he was "The work charms and general luck and protection ones too"

"What about love charms? Ever got one of those?" Touma _ knew _ he was gonna be struck down, and he was expecting it to be bad, but he still asked. Minami just smiled at him like you would to a kid asking about Santa.

"Those… don't really work, or at least not the way people expect them to" he started gentle enough, but of course… "The best love charm is being yourself, anyway. Is that what you wanted me to say?"

… _ of course _ he had to add something sarcastic like that. Touma sighed, amused at Minami's sense of humor, and changed the subject.

Sure, it was probably silly to believe in things like love charms, or to hope he could get Minami's attention like that, let alone his affection.

And still, as much as he _ wanted _ to think of this as a date, just being together for anything other than work made him happy. To begin with, it calmed Touma's fears that he might be coming on too strong to Minami and maybe he had realised his intentions when inviting him out were not entirely the same as when he approached the other members, and perhaps he felt awkward (or even disgusted) at that, or he just didn't want to hang out with him, or-

"Inumaru-san?" Minami's voice was soft as it dragged him back to reality, to the moment they were sharing together. He apologized for spacing out with a nervous laugh and they kept talking about shrine protective charms, the power of prayers and wishes, intention, etc. Things Touma understood about half of, but were worth listening to just for the chance of seeing Minami's content smile as he explained them to him.

If nothing romantic came out of this, if this only meant becoming friends and nothing else, Touma would still count it as a victory, small as it was.

_ 'Just this, just becoming closer is enough' _

By the time they arrived to the shrine, Touma learned he now had a surefire way to make Minami speak for longer than five minutes, and he thanked god for the first time for a long waiting line.

"Are you going to make a wish or just...?"

"Mmm… I don't really know what to wish for, so I guess I'll be a good boy and just be grateful for this past year" Minami shrugged, barely giving Touma enough time to be happy about the implications before teasing him again, an almost devilish smile on his face "Do you have any wishes this year, you greedy boy?"

"... Maybe"

Of course, he wasn't supposed to say it anyway and it's not like it was embarrassing, but if he had to wish for anything, he wanted ZOOL to prosper. More than that, he wanted them to become a real team. He knew Minami could tell from the way his smile softened for a second before he looked away, and maybe that tiny gesture meant something.

The long waiting line he had been blessed with was over in just a few minutes and a bit of music talk (Minami's tastes were surprising and broad, and his theoretical knowledge was far more than what Touma had learned as an idol, naturally, but at least he knew enough about this to understand), and when it was time for him to pray he knew exactly what to ask for.

_ ‘I want ZOOL to become closer. I want us to heal together, as friends’ _

Before opening his eyes, he felt a special warmth in his chest, and after all his talk with Minami about mystic stuff he wanted to believe it was a sign that the gods had listened to him. Maybe his wish would be granted after all.

But when he turned to look for Minami, he was nowhere to be found. Touma didn’t think he took that long praying, but Minami probably took even less and was waiting for him somewhere.

He felt a bit proud when he saw Minami's little blond head in the first place he tried looking, but he was a bit… surprised? It probably was that, because he thought he saw Minami put away what looked like a love charm in his wallet with the small change he got from the store clerk.

Touma shook his head to get it working again (and maybe, just maybe, to restart his heart after the big thump it just made) and approached Minami with a relieved smile "Hey! There you are. Next time wait for me?"

Minami smiled back, though Touma couldn't really understand which of the many smiles Minami had shown him that day it was supposed to be.

"Maybe. But you can always text me if I get lost, too" it was absolutely matter-of-factly, and of course that's what Touma would've done if he hadn't found Minami on the first try, but it made him happy that Minami wasn't closing the door on another date.

(Maybe next time Touma could _ actually _ call it a date. Maybe next time Minami would agree even if he did.)

"Anyway, do you want to get an omikuji?" Touma smiled his brightest smile before he even realised. Minami looked awkward at the question, though, so he quickly deflated "You don't want to? … Wait, is it because I'm here?!"

Minami sighed, in a shy way that Touma couldn't help but find cute, and didn't say anything else. He _ was _ pretty reserved, after all…

"Ok, then go ahead. I'll buy a charm and then I'll go get you"

After a few seconds considering it, Minami nodded, smiled and left him alone again. Which was what Touma wanted too.

Maybe it _ was _ stupid. He didn't know anymore. But he knew he wanted to bet on something, to believe in _ something _. Even if he was just being stupid or desperate, he wanted to do things his way. He wanted to ask god, or fate or the stars for a chance with Minami. Just one chance to make him happy, to be happy together.

_ 'Just being friends is enough. But if we can be something else, please…' _

He carelessly threw his own, newly acquired love charm in his pocket when his phone startled him.

_ "I'm done. Are you still buying charms?" _

Short text as always, to the point like every text he'd ever gotten from Minami. It still got a sigh from Touma that could rival with a teenager looking at pictures of her favourite idol, and on second thought it actually made sense.

_ "I'm done too. Wanna go for coffee?" _

_ "If you treat me, sure" _

He couldn't help a little victorious laugh. As evidenced by the many times he said 'no' in the past, Minami wouldn't just go anywhere or with anyone for free stuff. Why he felt like humoring Touma that day specifically was a mystery, like many other things about him, but Touma didn't feel like questioning it. He wasn't complaining.

Minami looked just as beautiful waiting for him under the shrine's entrance as he looked near the train station, and that was something Touma really wanted to get used to: Minami looking up to Touma, his smile as their eyes met, the way he cocked his head to a side like he was expecting something.

Just seeing Minami, just being around him, made Touma wish for a life together. He just wanted to ask god, the stars, fate, whoever it was that could grant it, that they were meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> the idea for this was originally old af but then I never wrote it and bamco screwed me over by making a canon story about first shrine visits of the year, ok. thanks as always bamco!  
anyway, this is the peakest case of "started shipping this bc favxbff's fav and now I'm invested" except it's just my fav zool and sora's fav zool, but well. here I am. hmu at twitter (@luna_arsenica) if you too feel like talking about this dorks


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